Chattanooga Times Free Press - ChattanoogaNow
Thirty vendors show wares at Houston Museum Antiques Show. FRIDAY-SUNDAY
You might be surprised how much history is reflected in American- made glass, specifically glass made in West Pennsylvania.
Long before Pittsburgh was known as “The Steel City,” it was recognized as the epicenter of America’s glass-making industry.
Nationally known glass expert Anne Madarasz will explain how glass production in Pittsburgh transformed Pennsylvania into one of the country’s first gateways to the West during her appearance this weekend at the Houston Museum Antiques Show and Sale. Madarasz is director of the curatorial division and chief historian of the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum in the Sen. John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh.
The fundraiser for the Houston Museum will be held Friday through Sunday, Feb. 24-26, in Stratton Hall. Houston director Amy Autenreith says 30 vendors will bring antique books, maps, jewelry, silver, linens, glass, furniture and a variety of collectibles.
In addition to browsing exhibitors’ vignettes and displays, guests will have the opportunity to hear Madarasz speak twice as well as attend one of her glass identification sessions for glass family heirlooms they wish to bring to the show.
Saturday afternoon, her topic will be on the importance of Pittsburgh glass.
“West Pennsylvania was the national center of the industry, especially 1830 to 1950,” she says. “By 1920, 80 percent of the glass made in America was from Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio because of available natural resources like coal and natural gas.”
Bakewell Glass in Pittsburgh was the first company to make fully cut glass in America. Madarasz says Bakewell was one of the city’s most prominent glass companies whose work is still revered by collectors today.
“Bakewell was the f irst to make glass for the White House. It made glass for Presidents Monroe, Madison and Jackson,” she explains.
She names Pittsburgh Plate Glass, aka PPG, as the nation’s first successful plate-glass factory in the United States. PPG produced windows for big department stores as well as glass for autos.
“Every kind of glass — from stemware for presidents to glass tiles that line the Hudson Tunnel in New York City — was coming from West Pennsylvania,” she says. Sunday afternoon she speak on clues to be found in packaging of these compa from West Pennsylvania.
“In my work, I’m looking at not just the aesthetics of the glass, but culture. What can those objects (bottles) tell us about our lives and our culture? One of the best stories is about Pittsburgh and Heinz ketchup, what its bottles tell us about history and culture.”
An additional draw for glass collectors at this weekends Houston show is that Tindell's Restoration will offer on-site repair service for chipped pieces at a nominal fee.
“We are grinding and polishing anything related to glass such as taking chips out of stem ware or plates,” says DiAnna Tindell. “Anything larger that needs repair, such as if somebody brings in a painting or a figurine with an arm missing, we will have to take back with us and arranged to get it back to them.”
Tindell’s Restoration offers conservation framing and resto ration of art, crystal, glass, porcelain, pottery, figurines, sc tures, silver, bronze, alabaster marble, decorative furniture musical instruments, clocks and dolls. The company has been in the restoration business nearby 30 years and has restored items for Cheekwood and Frist museums Bellemeade Mansion and T Travellers Rest Plantation. Tindell says there is a minimum charge at the Houston show of $ 20 for repair of a chippoed glass. Prices increase depending on the size of the repair. A preview party will be held inside Stratton Hall tonight, Feb, 23. Tickets are $ 75 at the door, but include admission to all three days of the antiques show and sale.